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To be a globally inclusive leader, one of the most important leadership traits is cultural humility. This is different from cultural competency, which essentially says, “While I will try and understand the different ways that different cultures operate, my dominant culture is the one that I will learn the most from and is the best.” Instead, cultural humility says, “I have a lot to learn from other cultures. My way may not be the best way. And as I approach other cultures, I will let them lead the way, rather than impose my way, the dominant way, of doing things.”
When we think about creating a globally inclusive culture, one of the big challenges around diversity, equity, and inclusion work is the belief that this is only an issue in Western Europe or in North America, or that the issues of racism are only specific to the cultures in the West. And the reality is that a lot of the issues that we face around DEI are very globally applicable. And one of the ways that we can understand that is really by looking at the experience of marginalized and underestimated women in communities around the world.
For example, Muslim women in India who experience marginalization based on their religion. So, while the issues may not be the exact same as what we see here in the United States, it may not be an issue of the marginalization, for example, that’s been faced by Black American communities, as opposed to white American communities, there are many lessons that we can learn that are globally applicable. So, one of the big deterrents doing this work in a global context is, “Well, we don’t face these issues here.” And my argument to that is “Yes, you do.” You just need to look at who is being centered and who is being left out of the conversation.